


my heart is reeling

by elizabethelizabeth



Category: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard - Rick Riordan, RIORDAN Rick - Works
Genre: Babysitting, F/M, Marriage Proposal, Original Character(s), Post-Canon, Post-The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:34:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22236424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elizabethelizabeth/pseuds/elizabethelizabeth
Summary: “Best wedding I’ve ever been to.”Magnus eyed me in his periphery. “Isn’t it the only wedding you’ve ever been to?” He paused. “Never mind, I managed to somehow forget your mom nearly managed to marry Samirah off ten years ago.”“My statement still stands, then. It definitely wasn’t the worst wedding I’ve ever been to.”“I think Amir would be personally offended if you even hinted it was.”“Talk about a groomzilla.”The timing is odd, but when is it not, when it comes to the two of them?
Relationships: Magnus Chase & Alex Fierro, Magnus Chase/Alex Fierro
Comments: 18
Kudos: 198





	my heart is reeling

**Author's Note:**

> well hi MCGA fandom, how's it going? it's been a HOT MINUTE! I actually wrote this fic this last summer and left it languishing since then. dragon_with_a_teacup helped convince me to polish it up, just for y'all.

“On the first Wednesday in October in the year 2029, Alex Fierro had a horrible idea.”

If Magnus Chase were telling this story, that was one-hundred percent how it would start; do not try to convince me otherwise. 

Really, it wasn’t a horrible idea. Maybe it wasn’t fully thought out, I’ll cop to that, but it wasn’t a horrible idea. It was all Samirah’s fault, anyway. She made the conscious decision to agree to marry Amir. That wasn’t the problem. She also decided she wanted to have kids with the guy. That wasn’t the problem either.

The real issue here was that she should have  _ never _ asked Magnus and me to babysit.

“Biva’s bedtime is supposed to be eight-thirty and Sahar’s is nine because every parenting book I’ve read said that I have to keep them on a schedule. Apparently kids have better socialization if they’re on a schedule. Personally, I really don’t give a f… flip when they go to bed. They’ll go to sleep when they feel like it.”

Any mom who was that blas é about childcare had no business looking as well put together as my sister did. It was unnatural. She had two daughters under the age of five, and she had the audacity to look spectacular before she waltzed out her front door to wherever she and Amir were off to.

“What time does the gala end?”

Magnus  _ would _ remember exactly where they were going.

“Nine, but I have a feeling we’ll be back later than that. Food people tend to party hard.”

“Do food people call themselves food people, or is that just you?”

“Both,” Amir and Samirah said simultaneously. They’d been married for six years and they were still disgustingly cute. 

“You and Magnus are welcome to stay in the guest room if you get exhausted.” 

“Please, Amir. We’re immortal warriors. I think Magnus and I can handle two toddlers.”

_ That  _ was the mistake.

Before I go any further, let me clarify something. I am the best aunt in the world. I am sometimes also the best uncle, but right now “aunt” is the preferred term. I’m the best aunt in the world because I provide never-ending entertainment. Biva wants to cuddle a tiger? I can turn into a tiger. Sahar is weirdly obsessed with ducks? Boom, duck. When the girls inevitably get into their horse obsession phase, there will I be with bells on, or whatever the hell horses have. 

Do you know what Magnus can do? He can glow.

Guess who’s the favorite?

“Again!”

“Sahar…”

“Please?”

Magnus Chase: fearsome warrior, accomplished healer, easily emotionally manipulated by a four-year-old.

He sighed, dramatic, but the girls and I could tell it was all for show. He pointed an accusing finger at me. “Don’t start singing  _ Tangled  _ songs this time!”

I crossed my heart, and Biva copied me, crossing hers as well.

Magnus took Sahar’s hand, closed his eyes, and glowed a bright golden with his healing energy.

Sahar shrieked with delight, while Biva clapped her hands, bouncing exuberantly and uncomfortably on my lap. “Again!” Sahar insisted as Magnus’ glow faded.

I can turn into  _ literally  _ any animal, and these kids are fascinated by a human night light. Unbelievable.

“Magnus gets tired if he glows too much,” I explained. “If he feels up to it, maybe he can do some glowing before your bedtime.”

This seemed to satisfy Sahar. Or maybe she lost interest because she had already moved on to her LEGO blocks on the other side of the room. Toddlers are weird.

Biva tilted her head back to look up at me. “Sack?”

Pretty sure that meant “snack” in Biva-language. I admired the girl’s priorities, no denying that. “You had dinner an hour ago. Your dad fed you.”

Biva paused. “Sack?” she asked again.

Tenacity and strength of conviction. She was definitely Samirah’s daughter.

I tilted my head, pretending to think. “You make a convincing argument.” I heard a snort of laughter from Magnus’ general direction. “How do Cheerios sound?”

Biva countered with “Cheese!” and proceeded to cheat by bringing in her older sister. The two of them began chanting “Cheese!” repeatedly, cult-like, but like, a really adorable cult that you just couldn’t help but give in to.

“Okay, fine! Your dad probably keeps feta in the fridge. We’ll have a cheese party.”

The girls continued to chant “Cheese!” as they ran into the kitchen. Magnus appeared beside me before I followed them there. “You gave in  _ way  _ too easily.”

I mock-glared at him. “Oh, and I suppose you would have stood your ground, refused to give in to an adorable toddler? I call bull… crap.”

Magnus chuckled. “Fair point. At least they wanted cheese instead of choc— _ mmpf _ .”

I slapped my hand over Magnus’ mouth. “Are you crazy?” I whispered. “Mention anything with S-U-G-A-R in it and they’ll both be bouncing off the walls.” We had to get those kids in bed tonight, at least before Samirah and Amir got back. Ideally, we’d get Biva and Sahar sleeping right at their bedtime because then I could brag to Samirah about how good of a babysitter I was. Hard to do that when you’ve got two kids running around on a sugar high, which would definitely happen if either of them heard Magnus talking about chocolate.

“My bad, my dude,” Magnus replied, muffled. He kissed the palm of my hand before pushing it away, and I definitely did  _ not _ blush at the motion. “Cheese party it is, then.”

Biva insisted on throwing feta at her older sister, and Sahar did not take kindly to cheese showing up in her hair, but it was better than sugar-crazed toddlers.

Eventually, the girls agreed to sit down and watch a movie before going to bed. Hilariously, they picked  _ Tangled _ , with absolutely no input from yours truly.

“We watch this every time we watch the girls.”

I feigned ignorance and asked if he was sure he was correct.

“We’ll watch a film making fun of your powers next,” Magnus warned.

“Yeah, good luck finding a film that doesn’t argue shapeshifting is cool as f… frick.” Magnus laughed, and I flipped him off behind the girls’ backs. Sahar and Biva were at the stage where they liked to mimic, so now I had to remember that censorship was cool and fun and definitely didn’t annoy the shit out of me.

Sahar turned to look at the two of us, glaring. “Watch the movie!” she insisted. She was also her mother’s daughter. Although, I guess stubbornness was a family trait for us. I’ve grown very self-aware in my old age, obviously.

Magnus looked solemnly back at Sahar. “My apologies. We’ll stop talking.”

“Suck up,” I whispered to Magnus as he turned back to watch Rapunzel and Flynn Rider traipse through the forest.

“Watch the movie,” he whispered back, winking at me. What an insufferable flirt.

I didn’t watch the movie, though. I looked at Sahar and Biva’s backs as they sat close together. Sahar was the eldest by a year and a half, but the two girls could have practically been twins with how alike they looked and were. Matching brown, wavy hair, the same bright brown-gold eyes as Samirah, and an innate mischievousness that they probably inherited from my side of the family. 

I adored them.

I wouldn’t dare admit to anyone, naturally. Truth be told, I was scared to be around Sahar at first when she was born. Magnus and I dealt with older kids through the Chase Space, we hardly got anyone younger than ten, and I’d never had any younger siblings. Infants were a new, terrifying kind of person to navigate. I didn’t trust myself around her. 

Sahar instantly loved Magnus, because who wouldn’t? Magnus radiated softness and loveable energy, so naturally, all children adored him. There was a period of a few days where Samirah would beg Magnus to come over and hold Sahar so she would stop crying, which was kind of hilarious. 

I held her for the first time a few weeks after she was born, and I was all tense and nervous. I had a running monologue of horrific outcomes running through my head the whole time. What if I dropped her, what if she ended up despising me, what if my mom showed up suddenly and decided to fuck this girl’s life over just by virtue of being related to me?

She didn’t show up, thankfully.

Truth be told, I never got comfortable holding Sahar and Biva as infants. Once they both got to walking, I became more relaxed around them, more involved. I noticed that Biva was super bossy, that Sahar liked to be read to. When they were able to eat solid foods, everyone soon found out they were both obsessed with falafel, and no one was more proud than Magnus was. 

Magnus was probably the girls’ favorite, but it didn’t really matter to me. I would protect Sahar and Biva with my immortal life if I had to.

I looked over at Magnus just as he laughed at something on the screen. I guess I adored him, too.

He caught me staring, but I didn’t look away. He reached out, squeezing my hand, our personal nonverbal questioning of our mentality.

I squeezed his hand back, a silent “I’m ok” before turning back to the television.

Sahar and Biva were asleep on the floor, spread out on the carpet. Biva was snoring. I didn’t even know toddlers could snore.

“Sweet!” Magnus whispered, standing to better see the girls. “They fell asleep before bedtime! We’re totally going to rub this in Samirah’s face.”

Wow, I loved him.

With immense care and caution, Magnus and I somehow got Biva and Sahar into their respective beds without waking them up, which I think was another thing I needed to brag to Samirah and Amir about when they got home. 

I met Magnus in the hallways after making sure Sahar was still asleep. He was staring at the wall, framed pictures chronicling Samirah and Amir’s life: graduations, holidays, birthday parties, posed family portraits. 

“That was a fun time,” he remarked, looking at a picture of Samirah and Amir on their wedding day. Samirah looked amazing that day, a daisy flower crown on top of her green silk hijab. Amir sat next to her, simultaneously nervous and ecstatic as he stared at her.

There was a picture just beneath it of Magnus and me, that same day, dancing in the middle of a crowd. I had somehow gotten ahold of Samirah’s flower crown, and it complemented my emerald tux beautifully if I do say so myself. Magnus had his eyes closed in the photo, laughing at something I’d said most likely.

I turned to look at the real-life Magnus next to me. “Best wedding I’ve ever been to.”

He eyed me in his periphery. “Isn’t it the only wedding you’ve ever been to?” He paused. “Never mind, I managed to somehow forget your mom nearly managed to marry Samirah off ten years ago.”

“My statement still stands, then. It definitely wasn’t the worst wedding I’ve ever been to.”

“I think Amir would be personally offended if you even hinted it was.”

“Talk about a groomzilla.” Amir was weirdly obsessed with his and Samirah’s wedding being flawless. Instead of being put-off, Samirah had found Amir’s perfectionism endearing but called him out when he got too obsessive about the details. Those two were good for each other.

“You’re right, though,” I continued, still staring at the photo of Magnus and I. “It was a good time.”

I felt Magnus’ hand nudging mine, and I took it instinctively, reveling in his soft warmth. I really did adore him a lot, more than I expressed sometimes. There was a period of time where I was immensely terrible about sharing the depths of emotions I felt around Magnus Chase, but in the twelve years we’d known each other, it had become easier to tell him how much he meant to me. Magnus held his own heart in his hands, holding it out for people to know him. He reached out for mine, and while it might have taken a while, I offered it back gladly.

“We should do that sometime.”

I turned to look at Magnus to see him eyeing me questioningly. “What?”

“Get married. We should get married.”

He gaped at me. “What?”

I started to get nervous. “I mean, if you want. We’ve been together for a while and I don’t want to be with anyone else, I just want to spend the rest of eternity with you. I know the idea of marriage is antiquated and dumb, but, I don’t know, I love you. I want to be with you. I want to let our friends know I want to be with you. I mean, they know, obviously. I don’t know. I love you. I want to get married if you want to get mar— _ mmpf _ .”

It was apparently Magnus’ turn to shut me up, but he was much nicer about it because now he was kissing me. Which was, you know, awesome. Kissing Magnus was always awesome. His hands always felt amazing when wrapped around my waist, and his mouth was always warm and tempting, and I adored the way his breath caught when I held the nape of his neck. If I could have brought him any closer, I would have. However, kissing me in Samirah and Amir’s front hallway wasn’t quite an answer to my question.

I pulled back, barely. “I love the enthusiasm, but I need a verbal answer, Mags.”

“You never really asked.” He kissed my cheek, then behind my ear. “All you said was ‘We should get married.’ You never asked.”

Impertinent ass. I loved him.

I pulled away again so I get a full view of Magnus’ face. “Magnus Chase, will you marry me?”

He grinned, sunshine and summer. Just as he opened his mouth, the front door opened.

Samirah froze as she caught sight of us, and Amir nearly ran into her. Magnus and I would have jumped apart, but I think we both instinctively knew that would be even more incriminating. Samirah smiled slyly. “Everything good?”

Magnus and I looked at each other. He was still grinning. He turned back to Samirah. “Everything’s great. We got the girls asleep by their bedtime, nothing was destroyed, nothing set on fire. I think you should ask us to babysit more often.”

Samirah looked impressed. “Nice. Glad they didn’t get into trouble.” She walked fully into her house, Amir following, looking like he was trying not to laugh. “Now get out of here and go make out somewhere else.”

I was still blushing by the time we made it outside, holding on tightly to Magnus’ hand. I didn’t want to risk letting go, pull away entirely into myself and pretend that I hadn’t laid my soul bare. I proposed to Magnus in Samirah’s front hallway. Could I get more idiotic?

Magnus seemed to sense my anxiety, because he tugged on my hand, pulling me into a hug. “Stop that.”

“Stop what?”

“Overthinking things. That’s my job.”

I let out a small laugh. “And you do it so well.”

Magnus kissed the top of my head. “I never answered you.”

I pulled back but didn’t leave Magnus’ arms entirely. “You don’t have to. I sprung it on you, and it wasn’t a very good proposal anyway. We were standing in my sister’s hallway, not exactly the most romantic place.”

“Alex,” he interrupted, and I felt my breath catch again. “Let me answer, okay?”

I nodded, suddenly speechless. Amazing how he can do that so easily.

He placed his hand on my cheek, inviting me to look at him, but I wouldn’t want to look anywhere else, honestly. He was smiling again. “Yes, Alex Fierro. I’ll marry you.”

I surged forward, kissing him again, relishing the sound of surprise he made at the suddenness of it. I loved that sound. I loved Magnus. Magnus wanted to marry me.  _ Wild _ .

If we hadn’t been on a  _ very _ public sidewalk surrounded by Samirah and Amir’s suburban neighbors, I might have ravished him right then and there, that’s how in the clouds I was.

“I love you,” I murmured instead, and felt his face heat up in response as he answered in kind. 

We somehow managed to tear away from each other and make it back to the hotel, thankfully not waylaid by any of our hallmates. I barely managed to undress before the two of us collapsed on the bed in Magnus’ room. “Shit.” I tried to rub the tiredness from my eyes. “Why am I so  _ exhausted _ ? We only watched the girls for a few hours.”

“I now understand why Samirah complains about being tired all the time.” Magnus’ voice was muffled, as he was lying facedown on his pillows. He must’ve been even more tired than I was; he was still fully clothed save for his shoes. “I’ll never tease her for it again.”

“I probably will,” I answered honestly, rolling over to face Magnus. “Can I be honest?”

“I usually prefer that.” He adjusted just enough so that his eyes could meet mine. “What’s up?”

“I really want to have sex to celebrate this whole engagement thing, but I think I might fall asleep in the middle of fucking.”

Magnus blushed crimson at that. It was always so easy to make him flustered, even ten years on. “No offense, but same.”

I laughed, softly, growing more sleepy by the second. “We’ll revisit the issue in the morning.”

“I look forward to it,” was Magnus’ cheeky reply and the last thing I remembered before I finally fell asleep.

\--

Magnus was gone when I woke up.

Even sleep-addled, I was a little put-off. I was looking forward to kissing Magnus awake. I’m adorable, I know.

My irritation was short-lived, though, when the door to Magnus’ bathroom opened, which answered my question of where he’d disappeared to. I definitely wasn’t expecting him to walk out in just a towel around his waist, though. Not that I was complaining.

Magnus caught me staring at him. I grinned, all teeth, and lounged—hopefully seductively—across the bed. “Good morning.”

He blushed. “I did some reading last night.”

“... Okay.” I also wasn’t expecting that.

He had apparently just taken a shower because his hair was still damp, moisture clinging to his shoulders. All that combined with his flush resulted in a  _ very  _ appealing look. I was still confused, though. 

It must have been apparent because he began rambling. “Sorry. Good morning. I couldn’t sleep last night, so I did some reading. And other stuff.” He paused. “Can I start over?”

“You mean can you walk out of the bathroom with shower steam billowing behind you again? Yes, I’d be okay with that.”

He murmured a soft “shut up” that had no malice in it, which only made me grin more. He walked forward and kissed the grin from my lips. “Good morning.”

“Tell me about this reading you’ve been doing.” I sat up to better face him but kept the blankets and sheets curled around my legs. Magnus’ and my rooms were respectively freezing in the morning, what with them being open-air and all. 

“I was thinking about our wedding.” Magnus sat down next to me, still indecently clothed. I wasn’t going to complain. “I picked up some books from the library on floor seventy-six.”

He looked guiltily over to the nightstand on his side of the bed, and I followed his gaze. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed it before, but a veritable leaning tower of books was there, precariously perched. I let out a snort of laughter. “ _ Some  _ books? Are you sure you didn’t pick up the whole library?”

Magnus ignored me but did blush even deeper. Nice. “Did you know traditional Norse weddings normally happened on Fridays?”

“Really?”

“Apparently because it was the day blessed by Frigg.”

“Fascinating.”

Magnus paused. “I think we should get married on Friday.”

I chuckled. “Makes sense. I’d like to incorporate at least one Norse tradition at our wedding. Mexican wedding traditions all revolve around the Catholic church, and I don’t think the Pope would approve of two dead queers getting married. So, yeah. Let’s get married on a Friday. I’m cool with that.”

Magnus shook his head. “I didn’t say  _ a  _ Friday. I said, let’s get married on Friday.”

I froze, staring, going through my mental calendar. “Tomorrow?” My voice sounded hoarse. “You want to get married  _ tomorrow _ ?”

It was Magnus’ turn to grin, albeit a bit bashfully. “Why not? Anyone we’d invite is either dead or readily available. I was thinking we could get married in the Blue Hills, or Arnold Arboretum, somewhere outdoors so there’s no need for decorations. Obviously our marriage wouldn’t be recognized by the state of Massachusetts because, you know, dead. But apparently Halfborn is whatever the Valhalla version of a wedding officiant is, so he can marry us. Blitz would rather die than let us get married in something not tailored by him, so we’ve got clothing covered…”

I wasn’t really listening at this point, I was stuck on  _ tomorrow _ . Magnus wanted to marry me tomorrow, and apparently had been planning this all night. 

Magnus paused. “I did something else as well.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You managed to do research and go on a field trip? Without waking me up? Color me impressed, Mags.”

Instead of answering immediately, Magnus leaned over me to rummage among the books on his side of the bed and returned with a small box. I swear to every god in every pantheon, my heart stopped with that recognition. I died a thousand times in the moments it took for Magnus to look at me again, no longer bashful but fully earnest. He placed the box on my knee. “I ended up calling Blitz over since he’s the only person I know who has any smithing experience. We ended up sneaking into the smithy on floor thirty-three. I worked on it all night.” Magnus paused, flushed again. “That sounded like a humble-brag, but I’m just trying to be honest. I’m very sleep-deprived. Please open the box now, before I dig myself a bigger hole?”

Shaking, unknowingly nervous, I opened the box—velvet, rose-colored, where had he even found this?—to reveal a ring. The most beautiful ring in the nine worlds. Yeah, I’m biased, so what?

“Black tungsten, with rhodonite and tsavorite. To be honest, I have no idea what most of those things are, I just thought they looked pretty. I also thought you might want something androgynous, so you could wear it no matter how you identify. Green and pink, obviously. I hope it fits because I couldn’t very well get your ring size while you were sleeping, but the hotel is usually pretty good at making things—whoa, hey, why are you crying?”

Apparently, I was crying. I furiously wiped at my eyes, never looking away from the box in front of me. I didn’t dare look at Magnus, that would make me cry even more.

He kept rambling. “Shit, I definitely did not want you to cry. If you don’t like it, I can—”

I captured his lips with mine, silencing him, feeling the heat of embarrassment off his cheeks. “Shut up,” I said, voice watery, wavering. “I love it. I love you. You didn’t—” I interrupted myself, kissing him again. “It’s beautiful.”

“ _ You’re  _ beautiful.” He kissed me back, hand on the back of my neck, keeping me close, soothing my shaking body and hyperactive heart. “So?” he whispered against my lips, breath hot and cinnamon-sweet. “What do you say?”

I knew what he meant, but I couldn’t resist the coy “You never really asked” in answer.

He laughed, moved to kiss my neck. “Yeah, I deserve that.” My skin was left scorched when Magnus moved away, leaving enough space to place the ring on the left hand. “Alex Fierro, will you marry me tomorrow?”

I answered affirmatively before he finished asking, my turn to drag him closer, fingers tangled in the hair at the nape of his neck. 

“You’re fucking ridiculous, you know that, right?” I mumbled the words half-formed into Magnus’ mouth, totally unwilling to pull away and give them breathing room.

Magnus, being Magnus, seemed just as reluctant to move away. “Hey, you’re the one marrying me, so who’s really being ridiculous?”

_ You don’t have a clue _ _  
_ _ What it is like to be next to you _ __  
_ I’m here to tell you _ _  
_ __ That it is good, that it is true

**Author's Note:**

> title and end lyrics taken from the Eel's song "Fresh Feeling"


End file.
